Entertainment

Let a Musician Crash on Your Couch With Better Than the Van

Ever been inside a band's "tour bus" (a.k.a. rusted old van of questionable origins)? It's not, shall, we say, the most fragrant of places. Well, the newly relaunched site Better Than the Van aims to give musicians reprieve from the sweat-stewed interiors of their tour buses and crash with fans.

BTTV co-founder Todd Hansen came up with the site idea for the site back in 2008, whilst touring with bands and running a record label in Minneapolis. "I figured there had always been a need for something like this, so I built a quick site (with help, as I'm not really a developer) and put it out there," he says via e-mail.

Over the years, the site has chugged along, giving away an appropriately beat-to-hell Chevy van packed with music gear at SXSW, and attempting to get funding — without success.

"Looks like investors aren't too hot on altruistic travel sites for bands and music fans," Hansen says. "Not surprising, but we also see a much bigger picture in what we are doing. This is where it all starts, but much bigger things are on the way."

Those "bigger things" include the site's relaunch, which include overhauls in the realms of development and UI.

The site itself is pretty slick, allowing bands to find places to stay on tour, connect with bands touring in the same cities, connect with venues and accrue new fans.

Music fans, for their part, can host touring bands and fans, find out when artists are touring near them and discover new bands.

This kind of site is nothing new (remember Adopt a Hacker?), but any resource that lets bands save cash by couch-crashing is aces in our book. Would you let a wayward musician crash on your floor?

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